Salmon

Salmon, large, silver, soft-finned game and food fish of the family Salmonidae. Salmon are born in fresh water, spend most of their lives in the ocean, and return to fresh water to breed. The most commercially important salmon is the Pacific salmon (genus Oncorhynchus), of which there are 5 species. The largest is the chinook, which reaches up to 100 lb (45 kg); the blueback is the source of most canned salmon. The Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), endangered due to overfishing and pollution, lives in the North Atlantic and reaches only 15 lb (6.8 kg), feeding on crustaceans and small fish. All salmon return to their natal streams to breed, spawning in the sand or gravel of the stream bed.